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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. ________________ my words: he'll be late again.
  2. ________________ is common in the lakes of Sweden.
  3. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  4. I am not a ________________ of shrimp.
  5. Fill up this ________________ with water.
  6. The chairman did not ________________ out the possibility of a disagreement.
  7. The birds use the scarecrow as a ________________.
  8. Are you a huge ________________ of trains?
  9. The owl hooted softly from its ________________.
  10. I don't want to ________________ the boat.
  11. Can you turn the ________________ on?
  12. She got the top ________________ in the exam.
  13. The hot cup left a ________________ on the table.
  14. Will civil ________________ and democracy continue in Algeria?
  15. We were using a ________________ as a seat.
  16. The ________________ will go to the well once too often.
  17. The nurse administered an injection to the ________________.
  18. Remember our ________________: no talking to strangers, no matter what.
  19. Which do you like better, ________________ music or classical music?
  20. The water is too ________________.
  21. The ________________ was transferred to the cardiology ward.
  22. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  23. The farmer was ________________ with the unruly horse.
  24. He is an ace ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. mark — to pay attention
  2. perch — the fish
  3. cold — the Cold War
  4. fan — a supporter
  5. pitcher — a jug
  6. rule — to rule out
  7. perch — for a bird
  8. fan — a supporter
  9. perch — for a bird
  10. rock — to move gently
  11. fan — to cool the air
  12. mark — a grade
  13. mark — a trace
  14. rule — government
  15. rock — a stone
  16. pitcher — a jug
  17. patient — a sick person
  18. rule — a law
  19. rock — music
  20. cold — not warm
  21. patient — a sick person
  22. cold — an illness
  23. patient — calm and waiting
  24. pitcher — in baseball

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com